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More than five years ago, a murder case against Quincy S. Phipps was dismissed after the
prosecution’s key witness failed to show up for the trial in Franklin County Common Pleas
Court.

But Phipps is going to prison after all.

Yesterday, a Franklin County judge sentenced him to 27 years on unrelated charges of rape and
gross sexual imposition.

A jury convicted Phipps last month of sexually abusing two girls, one when she was ages 7
through 14, the other when she was 9 through 15. Both were relatives.

Judge Michael J. Holbrook said he did not take the dismissed murder case into consideration when
he imposed the sentence.

Phipps, 42, formerly of 231 Eldon Ave. on the West Side, was indicted in 2006 on
aggravated-murder charges in the 1993 shooting death of the night manager at Zarcone’s Eastside
Pizza, 2110 Leonard Ave.

Customers found Suzan Peaden, 39, behind the counter with a single gunshot wound in the chest.
Phipps was arrested six months later, but a grand jury returned no indictment then.

The case languished for years until Phipps’ ex-girlfriend, Kim Craig, told homicide detectives
in 2006 that he had confessed to her. Phipps was indicted, and his trial was set to begin on Sept.
17, 2007. Craig didn’t show up to testify and couldn’t be located by prosecutors or deputies.

The trial was delayed, but the case was dismissed when the deadline for bringing Phipps to trial
expired. He can’t be charged with the crime again, because his right to a speedy trial was
violated.

Peaden’s brother was unaware of Phipps’ conviction and sentence in the sexual-abuse case when
contacted by
The Dispatch yesterday. “I’m glad,” Robert Peaden said. “Thank God he’s in jail for
something. ... It’s a little bit of comfort, but he’s been running around for most of the time
since my sister was killed, which is almost 20 years ago.“If it’s not justice for my sister, it’s
justice for those girls.”

Asked for his opinion on the sentence, Prosecutor Ron O’Brien wrote in an email, “Sometimes we
accomplish poetic justice.”Craig eventually was picked up on a warrant and convicted of contempt of
court for failing to obey her subpoena in the murder case. She was sentenced to 20 days in
jail.

Phipps was indicted one year ago for rape and gross sexual imposition after the girls, now
high-school students, disclosed the abuse. Both girls testified during the trial.

Phipps declined to make a statement in court yesterday on the advice of his attorney, Jeffrey
Blosser, who told the judge that his client maintains his innocence and will appeal the jury’s
verdict.